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Blog Posts On social security

A hearing by the House Ways and Means Social Security subcommittee last week drew attention to the impending insolvency of the Disability Insurance (DI) trust fund in 2016. While there were some disagreements, there was also a clear bipartisan consensus that something must be done to shore up the finances of Social Security.
The hearing featured...Read More

Social Security

Social Security, established in 1935, is the federal government’s largest program. It represents approximately one-fifth of the federal budget and provides retirement, disability and survivors' benefits to over 50 million Americans. Retirement benefits are distributed in amounts based on lifetime earnings.

The system is funded by a payroll tax of 12.4 percent up to a maximum amount of income ($106,800 in 2010). Half of the tax is paid by employers and half by employees. Nearly all wage-earners in the country pay Social Security taxes, with most of them paying more in Social Security taxes than they do in federal income taxes.

Related Publications

In an op-ed for Roll Call, former Senators Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) explain how the country’s aging population, rising health care costs and deeply flawed tax system are putting more and more pressure on the federal budget, and they note that the "...

In 1998, The Concord Coalition worked with AARP and The Clinton Administration to conduct a series of public forums about the future of Social Security. The transcripts still provide an illuminating look at the issue through a healthy bi-partisan conversation among experts, policymakers and citizens.